The test tube of botulinum presented by Washington and London as evidence that Saddam Hussein had been developing and concealing weapons of mass destruction, was found in an Iraqi scientist's home refrigerator, where it had been sitting for 10 years, it emerged yesterday.

David Kay, the expert appointed by the CIA to lead the hunt for weapons, told a congressional committee last week that the vial of botulinum had been "hidden" at the scientist's home, and could be used to "covertly surge production of deadly weapons".

going....

It was cited in justifications of the invasion by President George Bush and by Britain's foreign secretary, Jack Straw, who described botulinum toxin as "15,000 times more toxic than the nerve agent VX".

going...

The US state department even argued that the discovery of the test tube meant that Mr Kay's Iraq Survey Group (ISG), contrary to its own claim, had found a weapon of mass destruction. However, newly disclosed details about the circumstances in which the botulinum vial was found, have raised fresh questions about its significance.

GONEIt is also unclear whether the vial contained the bacteria botulinum, from which the toxin is drawn, or the toxin itself, as Mr Kay claimed in interviews over the weekend.

Furthermore, the most lethal form of the germ is the A strain, while the form found by the ISG was the B strain.

UMMMM...Botulinum toxin injection is used to treat dystonia�a neuromuscular disorder that produces involuntary muscle contractions, or spasm�that affects muscles that control movement in the eyes, neck, face, voice box, or the smooth muscle in the bladder. The goal of the therapy is to reduce muscle spasm and pain.

This potent neurotoxin is produced by Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that causes food poisoning (botulism). There are seven known types of C. botulinum toxin, but only types A (Botox� and B (Myobloc� are used as medical treatments.neurologychannel et alhttp://www.neurologychannel.com/botulinum/index.shtml

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